Is this thing on? Snowmaking Tests Begin at Sunday River

Snow check one, check two. In the wee hours of the morning on Oct. 6, while most of their employees and this reporter were fast asleep, Sunday River started on the first day of its two-day preseason snowmaking test. They fired off 50 snow guns across the T2 trail located near the top of Locke Mountain. Should temperatures allow, the resort will blast an additional 50 guns across its Sunday Punch and Lower Sunday Punch trails to complete the system test.

For the past four years, Sunday River has been the first resort on the East Coast to open and last fall they were the first resort in the country to open thanks to a series of quality-control tests similar to the one conducted Thursday morning.

Testing the snow system on T2. Photo Courtesy of Sunday River, Maine.

Sunday River opened last winter on Oct. 24, 2010, and thanks to its snowmaking efforts, the resort also celebrated the longest season in the East, staying open six months and six days. Once colder temperatures have set in for the duration of winter, Sunday River will begin to make snow on Locke Mountain, which is traditionally their first peak to open each season.

The snowmaking test falls just before the resort’s annual Fall Festival Weekend and is a visual reminder to guests that winter is approaching, and also of course that the season pass deadline is fast approaching—Monday, Oct. 10.

For more information about season pass deadlines at Sunday River, click here or call 800-430-0772.